Article Tools

Left: File photo of Michael Simonson. Right: Investigators gather on N. Washington Ave. where a Lackawanna County Prison escapee crashed a stolen Pennsylvania American Water truck in which he fled. He was apprehended nearby in the 400 block of Spruce St. Michael J. Mullen / Staff Photographer

Dave Hughes turned to find a shirtless, tattooed man knocking on the window of his Pennsylvania American Water van at Penn Avenue and Larch Street on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr. Hughes didn't know that Michael Simonson was an admitted murderer, just reported as an escapee from the Lackawanna County Prison, where he was awaiting trial for his alleged attempted murder of a fellow inmate at the facility last year.

So he rolled down the window.

"He told me that he broke out of prison and that he needed my van," Mr. Hughes said. "When I told him 'no,' he punched me in my face."

Only after Mr. Simonson brandished what Mr. Hughes described as a penknife did the water company employee from Shavertown surrender the van and watch as the murderer "hopped in" and sped off "like a bat out of hell."

Officials are still looking for answers about how such a high-profile, dangerous inmate allegedly managed to slip the bonds of captivity and make his way from the North Washington Avenue lockup into Central City, where he was captured soon afterward by a swarm of city police.

A phone call to the office of Lackawanna County Prison Warden Robert McMillan was directed to Lackawanna County Spokeswoman Lynne Shedlock, who said the request for comment would be passed along. Mr. McMillan did not return the request Wednesday.

"I am dying to learn the answer to how this happened," said Lackawanna County Majority Commissioner Corey O'Brien, chairman of the county prison board. "This is outrageous and I'm looking forward to hearing what transpired here. This is absolutely outrageous."

Anatomy of a crisis

A neighbor near the prison had just called in to the Lackawanna County Communications Center at 1:25 p.m. to report that she saw a man climbing over a wall at the prison before running over to Mr. Hughes' vehicle, Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola said.

Within minutes, Mr. Simonson's jailbreak led to Lackawanna County Courthouse Square where he jumped from the moving vehicle in the 200 block of North Washington Avenue and took off on foot down Spruce Street.

As the van rolled into his Ford Edge parked outside of Edible Arrangements, Don Jordan watched as a swarm of city police officers converged on Courthouse Square and quickly took Mr. Simonson into custody in a parking area behind the Brooks Building off of Spruce Street, across from the Lackawanna County District Attorney's office - just seven minutes after the initial escape report.

"All of a sudden there were police all over the place," Mr. Jordan said. "He jumped out and let it roll."

Mr. Simonson did have a makeshift knife on him at the time of his arrest, which was executed without incident, Mr. Jarbola said.

The Times-Tribune was unable to confirm where Mr. Simonson was being held Wednesday night.

Bernie Brown, who is representing Mr. Simonson in the ongoing case in which he is accused of nearly stomping to death Nicholas Pinto, a fellow inmate at the prison, on Aug. 8, 2010, said he was on his way to visit his client at the facility when he left his office and saw the commotion downtown.

"This is your guy," Mr. Brown said Deputy District Attorney Paul Ware, who is prosecuting Mr. Simonson, told him when he left his office.

"For him to be back at the county prison then escape ... it obviously is bizarre," Mr. Brown said.

A violent history

Mr. Jarbola said Mr. Simonson was being housed in the Lackawanna County Prison because his co-defendant in a Luzerne County murder case he pleaded guilty to last year is being held in the Luzerne County Prison and they had to be separated.

Mr. Simonson head-butted his co-defendant, Elvis Aaron Riccardi, during a court appearance days before the beating of Mr. Pinto.

"He had to be placed somewhere else which just happened to be the Lackawanna County jail," said Mr. Jarbola, a member of the prison board.

How long and under what level of security Mr. Simonson was being held in the Lackawanna County Prison as of Wednesday was not clear, though it is less than 14 months since the attempted murder on Mr. Pinto, an admitted child pornographer who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Aug. 25.

During a stay in the prison in August 2010, Mr. Simonson allegedly stomped Mr. Pinto in the head 15 times, putting him into a coma and causing permanent neurological damage, during a lapse in security coverage of the then-accused murderer.

Mr. Simonson has a hearing in that case on Oct. 12, Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Simonson's attack on Mr. Pinto, which, according to sources, occurred while a guard assigned to the area of the attack was out of the building at his car and another was taking a phone call, prompted the county prison board to request an investigation into the facility by the state Department of Corrections. The ensuing report did not mention the assault.

Mr. McMillan was appointed to the warden position in June, following a six-month search in the wake of former Warden Janine Donate's resignation amid fallout from Mr. Simonson's alleged attack on Mr. Pinto.

Mr. Jarbola said detectives from his office are investigating Wednesday's escape and will be filing charges of, at least, escape and weapons possession, against Mr. Simonson, who recently withdrew his guilty plea in the prison beating case and is already serving a mandatory life sentence for the Luzerne County murder.

"Needless to say he's going to be spending the rest of his life in prison," he said.

Following the investigation, Mr. O'Brien said the incident must be "thoroughly reviewed."

"I'm confident that the prison board will take swift action," Mr. O'Brien said. "The prison board and or the warden will take the appropriate action to hold those who are responsible for this breach in security accountable."

Whether Mr. Simonson had the help of others or some type of tools to get himself over the wall at the prison, said Mr. Jarbola, is "something that we're going to have to discuss with the warden."

"I'm interested to find out exactly how it happened," he said. "You can't just climb over those walls."

Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com

Michael Simonson has been no stranger to violent crimes that have made headlines in recent years.

- Aug. 8, 2010: Allegedly stomps on inmate Nicholas Pinto at the Lackawanna County prison and, days later, is charged with attempted homicide.

- Aug. 25, 2010: Pleads guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Mr. Skiff and is immediately sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison. Mr. Riccardi is convicted of first-degree murder in 2011.

- December 2010: Pleads guilty to an attempted-murder charge in the Pinto beating. Allegedly headbutts another inmate, Michael Strackbein, while shackled in a Lackawanna County sheriff van.

- Wednesday: Captured in downtown Scranton minutes after he reportedly escapes from county prison.

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.